Drewniak, one of Christie’s closest advisers, met prosecutors working for U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman in Newark, New Jersey. Fishman’s office and state lawmakers are examining lane closures at the bridge from Sept. 9 to Sept. 12, which paralyzed traffic in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, has said he believes the tie-ups were meant to punish him for not backing the re-election last fall of Christie, a Republican. The scandal has hurt Christie’s reputation as he eyes a White House run in 2016.

“During our meeting today with the United States Attorney’s Office, we were assured that Mike is not a target of any investigation but a fact witness,” Drewniak’s attorney, Anthony Iacullo, said in a statement. “He will continue to cooperate fully with federal authorities as needed.”

The meeting may help Fishman move closer to learning which Christie allies ordered the closure of local-access lanes to the bridge. Sokolich met for four hours today with attorney Reid Schar, the counsel to the legislative committee examining the tie-ups, according to the mayor’s attorney, Timothy Donohue.

Rebekah Carmichael, a spokeswoman for Fishman, said she couldn’t discuss the investigation.

“Since there are ongoing criminal and legislative investigations, I do not want to get into any specifics, other than to say we discussed the lane closures,” Donohue said in a statement. “Obviously, the mayor is as anxious as everyone else to find out who was involved in the planning and execution of this scheme.”

(Page 2 of 2)

Drewniak, a former newspaper reporter, worked for about a decade at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark and was a spokesman for Christie while he was U.S. attorney there from 2002 to 2008. After Christie was elected governor in November 2009, Drewniak joined him in Trenton, the state capital, setting a combative tone with reporters that reflected his boss’s style. Since the scandal became public, Drewniak has made only limited public appearances and has declined to answer questions about the traffic jams.

Drewniak was mentioned in several e-mails released last month by the legislative committee examining the bridge shutdown. The committee has issued 38 subpoenas in its investigation, including to Drewniak and his wife, a Christie fundraiser.

Kelly email

The scandal drew national attention after the release of an Aug. 13 e-mail from Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly, who wrote: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” She sent it to David Wildstein, who was Christie’s second-ranking appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the bridge. He replied: “Got it.”

Drewniak and Kelly received an e-mail on Sept. 12 from Wildstein that included a two-sentence statement saying that the Port Authority was reviewing “traffic safety patterns” at the bridge, and the agency “has been in contact with Fort Lee police throughout this transition.”

Sokolich and others have said both claims were untrue.

Other e-mails showed that Drewniak used expletives when referring to reporters and his former employer, the Star-Ledger.

“He is at best a witness and a tangential figure in these events and proceedings,” Iacullo said. “I am certain all fair, objective and non-partisan parties will recognize that as we move forward.”

Hoboken mayor

Fishman’s prosecutors interviewed Sokolich for more than three hours on Feb. 21, according to Donohue. They have also questioned Hoboken, New Jersey, Mayor Dawn Zimmer, a Democrat who claimed Christie’s administration threatened to withhold Hurricane Sandy aid if she didn’t back a redevelopment project.